#35: How to Start Freelancing on the Side, with Carrie Smith from Careful Cents

Carrie Smith enjoyed her full-time accounting job, but she wanted to make extra money on the side. Who doesn’t, right?

She landed a second job in a tax office, working 9-to-5 for one employer and 5-to-9 for the other.

She earned decent money, but her schedule had no flexibility … and she felt unhappy.

This needs to change, she realized. She wanted to earn good money while also enjoying her life.
She started brainstorming ways that she could earn money without getting a second job. Even though she had zero experience as a writer, she wondered if she could leverage her skills as an accountant into a new, creative field.

She emailed a contact that she’d made at a bank, and volunteered to write one or two tax planning articles for their website, for free, just to test the waters. She discovered that she enjoyed writing. She wondered if she could make money at this.

She started reaching out to other websites and companies that might need tax-related article writing. After a few months she landed her first major client, Yahoo Finance. Then another. Then another.

After a few years, her freelance business grew large enough that she quit her comfortable accounting job. She’s her own boss now.

In this episode, Carrie tells her story and offers advice for anyone who wants to earn extra money as a freelancer — whether its a side hustle or a path towards quitting your 9-to-5 day job.

Enjoy!

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Carrie — an accountant — checked out a bunch of bookkeeping and invoicing tools when she started freelancing. She decided to use Freshbooks, which is also the sponsor of this show. If you’d like to try them for FREE for one month, check out freshbooks.com/paula.

When Freshbooks asks how you heard about their service, please mention this show. Thanks for supporting the show by signing up for their free trial. Enjoy listening!